The Spiritual Aspects of the Twelve Senses and Virtues to Cultivate as One Ages

These are the virtues one can cultivate regarding each of the Twelve Senses that Rudolf Steiner discussed. One can cultivate these before old age so that the challenges of aging are met gracefully and create a positivity around one that attracts a healthy environment and relationships.

Sight- Look inward, focus on inner vision of wisdom and justice of events of destiny, especially so called failures, reversals, misfortunes and accept as needed. Be grateful for all lessons learned, peacefully and without regret. Recognize destiny as a friend.

Hearing-Listen with soul, silently, selflessly with full attention and without criticism. Hear what’s being said behind the words, through nonverbal communication. Hear what things of nature and the world are saying. Children often cannot convey what they mean through the words.

Smell-Never turn up your nose or shun others. Instead smell with compassion and love. Sense the true essence of the other one, of their I Am.

Taste- Indulge not in insult but develop courtesy. Avoid criticism and judgment.

Touch- Overcome egotistic curiosity of touching for inquisitiveness, rather touch things and people with reverence. Play instruments and develop skill with handicrafts.

Warmth- Cultivate patience, great warmth of heart, an ardent soul and fiery spirit.

Balance- Focus on inner tranquility and equilibrium.

Sense of Life- Evenness of temper and service to others.

Speech- Sense divine power of the word and be courageous.

Thought- Avoid excessive talkativeness, be silent within and contemplative. Assimilate new ideas.

Sense of Ego of Others- Go beyond appearances/maya. Sense the divine Ego, I Am of the other. Consider the interest of the other as much as your own.

If age becomes a burden strive to be a light filled soul which aims to be a blessing, not a burden.

These thoughts come from the study of Citizens of the Cosmos by Beredene Jocelyn and The Fulfillment of Old Age by Norbert Glas, M.D.

In my life experience I have found that raising children is one of the most inspiring opportunities you may have for spiritual initiations.  Every child is a recent arrival with the latest news from the spiritual world and that gift lies within the being of this tiny individual who is a seed baby ready to grow and blossom.  Rudolf Steiner has shared that the angels were intimately involved with child rearing in earlier stages of   human consciousness . The necessary evolutionary development of our intellect has left us without the intuitions which the angelic world conveyed to us in times past to assist in parenting.  He also offers a pathway to develop these intuitions and reestablish a relationship to the angelic world to assist us in guiding the children.

This intuitive process begins to develop when we consider with an open mind that every child has come from the spiritual world and alternates between life on earth and life across the threshold. They are children of the creator,  gifted to us to love and cherish, to guide and learn with as they mature. A family is chosen by the soul and higher being, the I AM THAT I AM, with particular ancestral traits and possibilities for a constitutional body.  This provides  a vehicle offering the best options for developing and living a life which allows the destiny to unfold. Based on past life experiences  and the insights of  the higher being, these characteristics serve the evolutionary needs of the child’s soul and spirit.  The feelings and attitudes which the mother has about this unfolding miracle play a central role in the development of the child in the womb.   Awe and wonder, joy and serenity affect  the body chemistry of the Mother so that she can create a welcoming environment for the feelings and organs of the infant to develop in a healthy and life embracing way.

A dialogue can also begin with the child’s angel with a request to guide and assist one in creating an environment in the home which will support health and well being for your child, in a way co-parenting with the wisdom and insight higher beings can offer.

The relationship with the child has already begun as well.  Steiner shares in one of the volumes of “ Karmic Relationships: Esoteric Studies” that we have been together in the spiritual world before our birth and in  past lives, not necessarily as parent and child.  Thus a possibility exists that parents and children may evolve together.  With these thoughts in mind the child who is held in joy and wonder,  before and after birth, has a very different feeling than one who is surrounded with worry, fear or doubt about any aspect of childbirth and child rearing. This is an important aspect, for the child is affected a great deal by the feeling world of adults.  Of course, thoughts and actions have an impact, but it is the feelings the child perceives most strongly.

From birth, when the child’s perceptions are first experiencing physical earthly existence, the child is mainly connected to the parents and foremost the mother.  Steiner spoke of the dominant capacity of imitation in the young child and this is what is most prominent in the relationship. In the spiritual world the child experiences a deep feeling of devotion and brings this into the physical world in the expression of imitation. This is not the basic concept of imitation that I raise a hand, the child raises a hand. Rather, the young child’s imitation is one that is visceral and  all encompassing as the child  experiences not so much what you say or what you do, but instead who you are, your “Being”, which expresses itself in what you think, say, do and particularly what you feel.

The predominate mode of imitation in the child makes the parents the prominent role models for the child at the deepest and formational levels of the body and psyche as well as a guide for how to be in a physical body and function in the material world.  When the relationship develops with this understanding of the child’s experience one strives to be a role model worthy of imitation. This developmental and age appropriate understanding supports  the child’s sense of self in growing with a deeply felt experience of being understood and honored .Note that the emphasis is on striving, for we all learn a great deal from making errors and the child benefits from this as a model for being human.

In the future I hope to further explore imitation and the role of guidance as well as other aspects of parenting as I continue to develop the work with prenatal parents.

I am very happy to have people forward these blog articles on to other parents and request that you acknowledge where they originated and/or link to my website.☺